Undergraduate Support Grants | The American University in Cairo Skip to main content Home page ع IN.AUC Close Menu Close Resources for Current Students, Faculty and Staff * Academic Calendars * Accreditation * AUC Library * Bus Service * Class Schedule * Human Resources * University Offices * University Policies * University Registrar Webmail Directory Catalog Banner Canvas Moodle * More Resources for Current Students * More Resources for Faculty and Staff Quick Links * News * Events * Apply * Schedule a Visit Website Search * Admissions * Admissions * Undergraduate Requirements * Graduate Admissions * International Students * Tuition and Financial Assistance * Academics * Academics * All Programs * Undergraduate Studies * Graduate Studies * Schools * Study Abroad * Arabic Language Programs * Extended Education * Research * Research * Innovation and Initiatives * Research Centers * Research Support * Undergraduate Research * Student Life * Student Life * Housing and Dining * Athletics * Student Wellbeing * Student Organizations * About * About * Leadership * Mission and History * Facts and Figures * AUC New Cairo * AUC Tahrir Square * About Cairo * News * Events Quick Links * Alumni * Give * Apply * Schedule a Visit Quick Links / AUC Directory , Faculty Directory Undergraduate Research Undergraduate Research * Undergraduate Research Program * Undergraduate Support Grants * EURECA Conference * URje Journal * UREAD * Research Resources Undergraduate Support Grants * Research at AUC * Undergraduate Research * Undergraduate Support Grants The Undergraduate Research Program URP) offers partial funding for undergraduate students to support co-curricular research activity that goes beyond the regular requirements of academic coursework or thesis work. Important Note: All students seeking financial support for co-curricular research-related activities have to come through the Undergraduate Research Program. Students should not approach other offices within The American University in Cairo (AUC) for funding without prior communication with the Undergraduate Research Program. If extra funding is found necessary, then the Undergraduate Research Program has to be copied on all grant-seeking correspondences. Definition of Key Terms Research: This is defined by the Council for Undergraduate Research as an "original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline." Research-based activities may result in a variety of intellectual outputs such as research papers, original artwork, science innovations and research-based solutions. Grant: This is a form of financial sponsorship for the proposed research activity. A grant is not a gift; it is money in trust. It is a contribution from the grant-giver that entails certain requirements from the grant recipient, including submitting a report with evidence of expenditure and research outcomes, publicly sharing research findings and returning unused funds. For undergraduates, only co-curricular research activities (i.e. those that go beyond the requirements of a course), such as travel to present at a conference, or enrollment in a research internship abroad, may be funded. Grant Cycle: This is the period that covers the application for a grant, the review of the applications at different levels, decisions on awarded applications, notification of the recipients, implementation of the research activity, reporting, report review and closure of the grant. Each grant cycle has a deadline for applications. After each deadline, the online system is closed, and the applications for the particular grant cycle are reviewed and processed. No applications are accepted for the grant cycle after the deadline. Grant Application/Proposal: This is a request for support for the research activity. The grant application is completed by the applicant. It consists of a section on personal details, a complete research abstract, a description of the research activity (e.g. conference, competition, internship) and a detailed budget with justification. The purpose of the grant application is to persuade the grant-giver to become a sponsoring partner for your research activity. You, therefore, have to present a good argument that establishes credibility for yourself and your research. Grant Recipient: This is the individual who receives financial support and becomes responsible and legally accountable for its financial management, reporting and research-sharing. Grant Acceptance Agreement: This is the signed legal contract under which the grant recipient agrees to perform the scope of work/activity, according to specific terms and conditions, for a specific budgeted financial compensation. Non-compliance to the terms of the contract results in sanctions. Grant Report: This is a required document submitted by the grant recipient after the research activity is completed. It offers details and evidence of both financial expenditure and research performance. The grant report is an essential condition for the completion of the grant process, as stipulated in the grant acceptance agreement. The details of grant reporting are covered in the relevant section below. Not submitting a report, or submitting a report that does not fulfill the financial and research outcomes reporting criteria, will result in sanctions, including returning the funds. Pre-Application Stage Eligibility A student can apply for a grant if he/she has: * Full-time enrollment status in an undergraduate degree program at AUC* * Completed a minimum of 60 credit hours at the time of application * A minimum GPA of: * 2.9 for all grants except the Research Internship Grant * 3.2 for Research Internship Grant * Submitted reports for previous grants received (if applicable) *Alumni who are still in their first year after the date of graduation may apply for a travel grant to present their undergraduate research or creative work at a conference/event. In case of approved funding, alumni grant recipients must travel within the period of this one year. Alumni cannot receive funding for a Research Internship. Grant Restrictions * An applicant has priority if he/she has not received prior funding from the undergraduate research program within the same academic year * A student is allowed only one Travel or Competition Grant per year, with a maximum of two Travel and/or Competition Grants per study period, inclusive of the period of one calendar year after graduation. * A student is also allowed up to one Research Internship Grant per study period. Students may receive a research internship grant only if they continue academic study at AUC after the summer, for which they will be grant-funded. In other words, students cannot apply for a research internship grant for the summer after graduation, even if they have been accepted by the host university or research center abroad. * A student cannot hold both a travel or competition grant and a research Internship grant in the same grant cycle. The Community-Based Research and Innovation grant, may be held in parallel with a Travel or Competition grant. * Only research that produces an "original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline" is eligible for funding. Student activities (such as MUN, MAL) are NOT considered research and will not be funded through the undergraduate research program. * Grants to more than one student delivering the same presentation abroad or participating in the same competition team are shared. How the funds are shared needs to be agreed upon by the team members. The grant is disbursed in the name of the main applicant, who becomes responsible for managing the grant and submitting the grant report. The names of research co-authors, even if not traveling, are also filled out on the application form for acknowledgment/documentation purposes. * All students applying for a grant must have a faculty research advisor/mentor who must provide a recommendation letter to be submitted as a supporting document in the application. The faculty advisor/mentor recommendation letter should provide specific evidence to testify that the grant-seeking student has demonstrated both a high level of research/creativity competence and the necessary maturity and reliability to manage the technical and financial aspects of a grant. * Reimbursement of expenses (i.e. retroactive support) for completed activity is not possible. * Within Four weeks from the day you return from the conference, competition, or internship you participated in, you need to submit (1) an academic report where you reflect on your experience and (2) a financial report where you need to include scanned copies of all invoices and your boarding passes on Laserfiche at the following link . Grant Cycle Deadlines Every academic year, undergraduate student grant applications must be received by one of the following deadlines: Grant Cycle 1: September 1, 2026 Grant Cycle 2: October 18, 2026 Grant Cycle 3: February 1, 2027 Grant Cycle 4: April 5, 2027 Applications will be reviewed at the deadline of the cycle within which they have been submitted. If the grant is approved, the payment process can take up to 12 working days after the students' payment forms are submitted. Students are encouraged to apply in cycles ahead of a conference; a conference acceptance letter can be submitted by email. Table of Application and Review Deadlines Start Date Application Deadline Deadline sent to Department Department to URP URP Review and Final Decision Sept. 1, 2026 Sept. 15, 2026 Sept. 24, 2026 Oct. 11, 2026 Oct. 15, 2026 Oct. 18, 2026 Nov. 1, 2026 Nov. 12, 2026 Nov. 29, 2026 Dec. 10, 2026 Jan.17, 2027 Feb. 1, 2027 Feb. 11, 2027 Feb. 28, 2027 March 7, 2027 March 21, 2027 April 4, 2027 Apr. 15, 2027 May 2, 2027 May 9, 2027 Application policies : * No applications submitted by email will be accepted * If the deadline falls on a holiday, then it will shift to the following working day * If you have not yet received one required supporting document (such as a letter of acceptance for a conference presentation or a supporting letter from a faculty research advisor), you can still apply. The proposal will be reviewed, pending receipt of the missing document, for up to a month after the grant application deadline. After a month, if the missing supporting document has not been submitted, the application status becomes rejected * An application with more than one missing document is automatically rejected * No applications submitted after midnight of the grant cycle deadline will be reviewed for that cycle * For research internships and conferences/academic competitions that take place in the summer, a student should apply for funding before the February 10 or April 10 grant cycle deadlines, depending on when the activity starts * Applications submitted during the summer (i.e., after April 10) will be reviewed after the first grant cycle deadline of the next fiscal year Payment Details Grant will be processed through the Controller's Office and may take up to 12 working days. To initiate the payment, you will need to send the below documents by email within five working days to the Office of Undergraduate Research [email protected] 1. Forms: Complete the forms: * Vendor Master Form with your personal information and bank information. * Declaration Form 2. Bank Statement: Submit a stamped bank statement from your bank or a screenshot from your online banking system clearly showing your account name and number. 3. National ID: Upload a clear copy of your national ID. Policies on Research Ethics All research and creative work must abide by AUC's research and academic integrity policies. Students working in teams must obtain consent from all team members as well as the faculty advisor/mentor before submitting work for presentation or publication. Research involving human participants must abide by the ethics of research with human participants. If you are publishing research involving human participants, you need approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) prior to collecting data. Undergraduates can submit the IRB application in consultation with their faculty instructor or advisor. Types of Grants The following types of research/creativity activities may be currently funded by the Undergraduate Research Program. *Read the application restrictions in the section above. 1. Travel Grant Travel grants offer partial payment of expenses incurred by travel to national, regional and international conferences, academic competitions, exhibitions, or other reputable events. These may be recognized as professional or undergraduate events. Only students presenting research or creative work can apply. Participating only as an attendee is not funded. The Undergraduate Research Program may cover partial costs for one or more of the following: * Refundable travel tickets * Event registration fees * Visa fees * Accommodations * Health insurance Amounts awarded to: * Individual grant applicants may be up to $1800 * Teams with members from the same discipline may be up to $3600 * Teams with members from different disciplines may be up to $4000 (or the equivalent in EGP at the time of disbursement) for students giving a presentation, exhibiting or participating in a competition. Owing to factors such as the cost of attendance, availability of funds and the number of applications received, the amounts awarded will vary. You may or may not be awarded the full amount you request. Amounts awarded to student teams are shared. How the funds are shared needs to be agreed upon by all team members. The grant is disbursed in the name of the main applicant, who becomes responsible for managing the grant and submitting the grant report. The names of research co-authors, even if not traveling, are also filled out on the application form for acknowledgment/documentation purposes. Note: All the team members and the faculty advisor/mentor need to consent that the work may be presented/published before applying to a conference. 2. Undergraduate Research Internship Grant A student who receives an invitation from an institute, research center, university research program, or professor abroad to participate in a research internship during the summer can apply for an undergraduate research internship grant. To apply for this grant, the student is required to have prior experience in conducting research, provide a recommendation letter from an AUC faculty research supervisor and secure an acceptance letter from the hosting institute, university or professor. The amount that may be awarded to an applicant is up to $4000 (or the equivalent in EGP at the time of disbursement) per internship, based on the availability of funds. The Undergraduate Research Program may cover partial costs for one or more of the following: * Refundable travel tickets * Event registration fees * Visa fees * Accommodations * Health insurance 3. Competition Grant Competition Grants fund teams traveling to participate in prestigious academic competitions, such as case competitions, entrepreneurial competitions, science, arts, media or writing competitions. Student activities such as MUN and MAL are not eligible for funding. Student teams participating in a competition abroad may receive up to $4000 (or the equivalent in EGP at the time of disbursement) for the whole team, to partially cover costs such as: * Refundable travel tickets * Competition registration fees * Visa fees * Accommodations * Health insurance 4. Community-Based Research and Innovation Grant (CBRI) The Community-Based Research and Innovation Grant funds research projects that work with an identified local community to address a need or problem. The researchers must incorporate a community component through all of the following strategies: * Participating with a local community partner (e.g. an NGO, local school, a local business) to define the problem and to assess different methods of intervention to address the problem * Employing local, available and sustainable materials and resources to address the problem * Offering research/innovation output as a service to the community Applications for the CBRI Grant have to answer the following questions in the Abstract: * What is the community problem or need that you are addressing through your research/innovation? * What community partner or civil society organization are you working with, and how are you working with them to develop the research question/process/evaluation? * How will the outcomes of your research or innovative product be communicated/delivered to the community organization? * What positive change will your research/innovation create in the community? The maximum amount that may be awarded for a Community-Based Research and Innovation Grant is EGP 35,000 for the project. This grant covers community-based research and innovation expenses such as: * Materials, supplies, services and/or data to be collected or purchased. * Subscriptions to online or archival literature or services; software for which AUC does not have a license. * Minor equipment or IT hardware but only with the approval of the department chair. Such equipment or hardware becomes the property of the department at the end of the grant period. 5. Off-cycle Summer Internship Grant The Undergraduate Research Program can offer students the opportunity to apply for summer internship grants off-cycle if they meet the following requirements or criteria: * A student can apply for a grant if he or she has: * Full-time enrollment status in an undergraduate degree program at AUC. * Completed a minimum of 60 credit hours at the time of application. * A minimum GPA of 3.2 * Submitted reports for previous grants received (if applicable). * Any student applying for this grant